The present invention, a marine vessel thru hull seacock plug, applies to irregular in shape thru-hull fittings connected to a hull valve, commonly called a seacock, which is below the normal waterline of a marine vessel. These thru hull fittings are formed typically with at least two internal ridges used for assembly that make them unsuitable for the application of a circular plug as shown in FIG. 2. The present invention prevents water intrusion by the application of an externally-applied (water-side) plug device which allows for the water-borne removal of the seacock or the emergency stoppage of flooding in the specific case of seacock failure.
Related art is replete with the solution to plugging a perfectly round hole consisting primarily of circular plugs. These plugs can be applied either internally or externally as the thru-hull is not equipped with an internal isolation valve, commonly called a seacock, for their intended above waterline use. Examples of circular plugs are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,390,007; 5,184,698; 4,930,657; 3,812,810; 3,295,712; 2,978,138; and 1,446,812 while a screw-type permanent plug is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,547. Non-plugging, but protective caps are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,423. None of these are suitable for the plugging of an irregular hole as this present invention addresses.
Marine vessels have below water line penetrations, called thru hulls that allow for the flow of seawater (or fresh water for inland use) from outside of the hull to the inside of the hull. These fittings normally have an isolation valve on the inside of the vessel, commonly called a seacock, and then are connected to various types of pipes and/or hoses to direct water for myriad uses such as engine cooling and head flushing. The thru hull external fitting is circular in nature but typically has two 180° apart and raised sections (called fins in this work) that allow for a special tool to hold the fixture secure while assembling the complete device, typically with a threaded nut on the interior of the hull. These raised sections or fins make the hole unsuitable for normal round plugs because these two fins prevent the smooth and continuous formation of a watertight seal.
The round hull drain plugs are ubiquitous in the marine industry and provide a smooth circular flexible tubing, typically rubber, gasket material that works well with correspondingly smooth circular thru hull fittings. These do not work in typical below waterline thru hull/seacock fittings and as such maintenance of the internal valves, piping and associated hoses require the haul out of marine vessels to a dry dock or other such out of water configuration. This haul out is costly and can only be accomplished at special facilities for vessels that are not normally transported on trailers. In addition, the failure of a seacock could lead to loss of the vessel if the flooding could not be stopped. This invention would typically apply to power boats of greater than 10 meters in length and nearly all fixed-keel sailboats.